“I have a very short window to play this game,” he says. “The last thing I want to do is waste it being out on the town. I want to get every ounce I can out of my body.”

…“You can’t just enjoy the positives,” he says. “You gotta enjoy the negatives. I don’t like going 0 for 7. I don’t like striking out—no one does—but you can’t have the good without the bad. The most important thing is when you have those bads, make sure you learn from them. Don’t come in here and slam your helmet and start cussing. Because the game’s not going to stop. Pause the game, Aaron’s upset, give him 15 minutes to calm down and we’ll replay it once he’s ready to go. If I wanted to bat a thousand and hit home runs every time I came to the plate, I’d go be a professional Little League player.”

…“The big thing for me this year is trying to have your moment for the game,” he says. “Every time I go up there to hit, I feel like that’s going to be my moment. Say I get out, O.K., I move on and I’m going to try to do something on defense. If nothing happens there, I come in here and cheer somebody on to go do their best. . . . I might go 0-for-4, but my impact might be helping out a teammate who’s down in the dumps.”

So what’s not to like about this kid again?

Astros in town for a four-game series. The best team in the league. Nice early test for the Yanks. This should be funski.